8/03/2006

Ezekiel 13:3-11

Thus said the Lord Hashem/Elokim: "Woe unto the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and things they have not seen. Like foxes among the ruins, so are your prophets, O Israel. You did not ascend into the breaches nor build a fence for the House of Israel, that could stand up in battle on the day of Hashem. They saw a worthless vision and false divination; they say, 'The word of Hashem!' but Hashem did not send them, yet they expect their word to be confirmed. Have you not envisioned a worthless divinationa and uttered a false divination? You say, 'The word of Hashem,' when I have not spoken!"

Therefore, thus said the Lord Hashem/Elokim: "Because you have spoken worthless words and have seen a false vision, therefore, behold, I am against you" — the word of the Lord Hashem/Elokim — "and My hand will be against the prophets who see worthless visions and divine falsehood; they will not be among the counsel of My people, nor will they be inscribed in the record of the House of Israel, nor will they enter into the soil of Israel; and you will know that I am the Lord Hashem/Elokim. Because — and again because — they led My people astray, saying, 'Peace,' but there is no peace. They erect a curtain and even smear it with plaster!

"Say to those who smear with plaster, 'It will fall! There will be pouring rain.' And as for you, O huge hailstones, you shall descend and a stormy wind shall break forth.

This passage was referenced in the prayers for the Ninth of Av, the Jewish fast which just drew to a close this evening. The words speak to us, even now. [Hashem= God, the Eternal One, the Lord]